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Tuesday, March 27th 1870 I have returned to London after several years and find much has changed. I came here seeking answers from my old mentor Dr. Blume, but upon reaching his residence I find it in disrepair. I have conversed with the current owner and find that it has been vacant for several months, and after meeting with a few mutual acquaintances of ours, I discover that no one has seen Dr. Blume for some time. Colleagues that once greeted me with openness and warmth seem to be avoiding me and I have perceived volumes of information from their worried, anxious expressions. While I have not been formerly rejected by my old order, I find that I am deliberately made to feel unwelcome in their presence. Wednesday, March 28th 1870 While visiting the chapter house of the Golden Dawn I was given permission to look through a few of Dr. Blume's affects that he had left behind in his office. After hours of searching, I happened upon a small snippet of information. Tucked quietly away in one of Dr. Blume’s old ledgers was a scrap of paper, a card with a date and address written on it, and what luck, it is only a few days from today! It seemed to be an invitation to a museum exhibit, but oddly enough it was the only thing in his collection of documents that had not begun to collect dust. It looked as if it was only a few days old. I resolved to have myself invited to the affair with hopes of finding Dr. Blume in attendance. Thursday, March 29th 1870 While the social world of sorcery in London seems to be in a state of flux, the current nobility in London remains ever static. In the States it seems a man’s station is determined by his own skills and knowledge, where as, in the archaic stagnant world of Europa a person’s blood is more important. With a bitter taste in my mouth I managed to acquire an invitation from a former financial backer of Dr. Blume’s research. A missing archaic genius tends to attract many interested parties and my benefactor wanted to know what became of Dr. Blume as much as I. Friday, March 30th 1870 I spent some time with my daughter today. I had scarcely stopped searching for Dr. Blume since I arrived in London and we both needed a reprieve. I acquired a formal suit for the affair tomorrow and bought an elegant pink dress for my daughter. She protested stating that she did not care for the color or the frills but I insisted on proper etiquette. I did not need her embarrassing me at such an important social gathering. We ultimately compromised. I promised she only had to wear it once. Our argument set a sour mood for the remainder of the day. Saturday, March 31st 1870 I ventured forth to the museum exhibit expecting to finally meet up with Dr. Blume but a much more insidious plot unraveled itself before my eyes. Upon entering the museum Triana immediately left my presence, still sulking about our disagreement the day before. While I would like to stay close to her, she is going through some sort of phase right now where she would rather not be seen with me. Fearing for her protection I immediately devoted my greatest concentration on detecting magick threats. I fear I may have been overzealous in my efforts for I mistakenly caused blue fire to emerge from my fingertips again. Of course this caused Triana to stay further from me and attracted quite a few stares from the nobility. I then noticed common rouges casually positioning themselves in front of the exits. I also became aware that they where carrying some sort of concealed weapons. I immediately concluded that the exhibit and all the patrons where going to be robbed by these hooligans. I resolved to use alchemy to turn their weapons into useless lumps of lead. I found a quiet corner away from the crowd next to the stage and sought the energies I would need to turn everyone’s weapons into useless paper weights. Suddenly, from the stage next to me, a tremendous explosion rocked the museum and a clockwork beast emerged spewing forth noxious purple gasses. I was temporarily deafened, having stood next to the stage at the time, and lost hold of my spell. I immediately resolved to find my daughter and leave but as I was crossing over to her my legs began to disobey me, my vision began to fade, and I collapsed onto the floor. My hearing was the first of my senses to return. I immediately heard the sound of four distinct voices two coming from behind me and another two coming from the left. I also heard the sounds of several other people breathing, and our collected heat was beginning to make sweat form on my brow. My nose was assaulted by the collected odors of the perfumes the Lords and Ladies where wearing and my head began to pound, whether from the gasses or the perfume I am not sure. I felt the course hemp rope cutting into my wrists and then my vision returned. I saw a strange misshapen man tied to a chair in front of me. He had a mask covering half of his scarred face, and had been shot several times in the chest. Then I noticed he had a mechanical arm and from it he produced a blade and severed his ropes. He freed me next and I immediately sought to protect my daughter, fearing that she may have been violated by the ruffians. I sought to use the gateway to the necropolis to free her from whatever fate may have befallen her. And then I saw a fist head straight for my face and felt a sharp pain in my nose. I then heard the fist speak in Mandarin cussing me out for using the last of the Chi. Then my eyes stopped watering and I saw a young china woman of moderate beauty. I composed myself and replied in my best mandarin that I sought to protect an innocent, my daughter had been left upstairs and I sought to shelter her. I noticed that another man, a self appointed colonel, began searching the room for a way to escape. Satisfied that the room was secured I turned my attention to the wounded man. I could tell he had been horribly scared by a fire and his arm may have been lost in the same incident. He had been shot in the chest by three separate bullets, but much to my surprise the bullets all missed his vitals. I removed the bullets and proceeded to patch his wounds while the others barricaded one of the doors. I realized that now we had to fight our way out and since I used the last of the magick in the area, for the first time, I would have to rely on my fists to win the day. I psyched myself up and joined the group by the door, as the Colonel began knocking and shouting at the guards. The guards opened the door and a promptly punched one in the jaw, but my feeble wrists only caused him a moment’s pause. Fortunately the Chinese woman, much to my surprise incapacitated one of the guards, and the masked man stabbed the other. We liberated their weapons and proceeded down the corridor where we spotted another group of men on a balcony above us. I snuck around the room so that I was below them, and the masked fencer and the Chinese diplomat followed me. Then the Colonel took the knob off of the staircase and crept up the stairs. He lobbed the wooden orb, cleaning hitting one of the guards in the back of the head. The Colonel then slid down the banister with the guards giving chase. The masked fencer then fatally shot two of the guards, and I threw a dagger at the other planting it in his shoulder. The Chinese woman finished him off and knocked the last guard unconscious. We went upstairs to the main exhibit room where we found all of our belongings. I heard the sound of electrical contraptions and screaming, coming from the adjacent room and while I would have liked to have left, the only way out was through the next door. We reluctantly crept forward and upon going through the door found a horrifying sight before us. A mad man on an elevated platform was lowering a naked woman into a pit of primordial goop. In that goop I recognized a magical engine. Suddenly the power crystal I had become mesmerized with shattered and left the boiler uncontrolled. The fool, the masked man had shot it. Now it was a matter of time till it exploded we had to act fast. I turned to run towards the catwalk to rescue the woman when the Chinese woman in a blur of motion vaulted out onto the catwalk and pulled the woman up onto the conveyor. I heard gun shots and shouting and noticed a reptilian creature coming forth from the goop, and then I jammed my sword into the conveyor bringing it to a shuddering stop. I ran towards the woman, and gave her my cloak and I noticed that the Chinese diplomat had begun containing the engine. She certainly was skilled to have taken on such a monumental task, but I knew it was inevitable. I told her to flee with the woman and get everyone out, and then I took over containing the engine. It began to strain as magickal energies began warping the metal I was fighting a losing battle. Then, after I heard the heavy oak doors slam, I reached into my inner self and pulled energy from my mortal soul allowing me to escape the blast that was to come. I flickered out of existence and I assume the boiler exploded. I entered my safe haven the necropolis only to be punched in the face a second time that evening. It seems my daughter felt I had created the catastrophe at the museum with another one of my accidents. I teleported us home and called it a day. Sunday April 1st Today I received a summons to attend tea one month from today at Count Masterson’s estate for my efforts in freeing his daughter from a mad scientist. Odd, how could he have possibly known I was involved? I have no intention of attending at the moment for I have other pressing matters to attend to. If I uncover no further leads on Dr. Blume’s whereabouts, I shall reconsider the offer. My goals for the month in order of importance Practice stealth (breaking and entering Dr. Blume’s abandoned house for starters) Practice social graces (talking to various persons that may know of Dr. Blume) Practice Fisticuffs (occasionally I may end up in a fight with people that are hostile towards Blume, also I will need to self train to better protect Triana) Category:En